Tissue Engineering
Topics from the archives of the Mad Science Museum related to tissue engineering. Arranged in descending chronological order.
Electrified Sheep
& Elephants on Acid
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Categories
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The Quest for Bulletproof Skin (Aug 2011)
An August 2011 Associated Press story reported that Dutch artist Jalila Essaidi, in collaboration with Utah State researcher Randy Lewis, created "bulletproof skin". Or, at least, skin that's somewhat bulletproof. The material was able to stop a bullet fired at reduced speed from a .22 caliber rifle, though not one fired at normal speed.
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 Making an Artificial Anus. (Mar 2009) Here's one of those things that sounds bizarre but will doubtless prove highly beneficial to patients. Researchers have built a functional anal sphincter in the laboratory. From ScienceBlog: "the researchers used a small biopsy from a human sphincter and isolated smooth muscle cells that were then multiplied in the lab. In a ring-shaped mold, these cells were layered with nerve cells isolated from mice to build the sphincter. The mold was placed in an incubator for nine days, allowing for tissue formation. The entire process took about six weeks. Numerous laboratory tests of the engineered sphincters, including stimulating the nerve cells, showed normal tissue function, such as the ability to relax and contract. The sphincters were then implanted just under the skin of mice to determine how they would respond in the body." The research is reported in the journal Gastroenterology.
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